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Ruben Östlund
Ruben Östlund
	Ruben Östlund in 2014
Born	13 April 1974 (age 50); Styrsö, Sweden
Nationality	Swedish
Alma mater	University of Gothenburg
Occupation	Filmmaker
Years active	1993–present
Notable work	Force Majeure, The Square, Triangle of Sadness
Spouse	Anna Östlund (married ?–2008)
Partner	Sina Görcz (2014–present)
Children	3
Awards	Palme d'Or (2017, 2022), Guldbaggen (2023)
Honours	H. M. The King's Medal in Gold

Ruben Östlund (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈrʉːbɛn ˈœstlɵnd]) (born 13 April 1974) is a Swedish filmmaker best known for his satirical black comedy films Force Majeure (2014), The Square (2017) and Triangle of Sadness (2022).^[1] He is the recipient of various accolades, including two Palmes d'Or, four European Film Awards and nominations for three Academy Awards.

Early life and education

Östlund was born in Styrsö, Gothenburg Municipality, Sweden. After high school, he started working in various ski resorts in the Alps during the winter seasons. While in the Alps, he began making skiing videos for his friends, which helped him obtain a job at a local production company.

He went on to study at the film school in Gothenburg, graduating in 2001. He was accepted to the school based on his skiing films.^[2] Together with film producer Erik Hemmendorff, he is the co-founder of the production company Plattform Produktion, which produces his films.^[3]

Career

2000–2011

His first three feature-length fiction films were The Guitar Mongoloid (2004), Involuntary (2008) and Play (2011).^[4] The Guitar Mongoloid won the FIPRESCI Award at the 27th Moscow International Film Festival.^[5]^[6] Östlund's short film Incident by a Bank won the Golden Bear for Best Short Film at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival^[7] and the Grand Prix at Tampere Film Festival in 2011.

2014–present

In 2014, his film Force Majeure was selected to compete in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival,^[8] winning the Jury Prize.^[9] Sweden then submitted Force Majeure for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. After the Academy shortlisted but did not nominate it, Östlund released a humorous video of his response to missing the nomination list.^[10] In 2016, he was a member of the jury for the Un Certain Regard section of Cannes.^[11]

In 2017, his film The Square, loosely inspired by some of his own experiences and art installation with Kalle Boman,^[12]^[13] competed at the Cannes Film Festival, where it ultimately won the Palme d'Or.^[14] Alissa Wilkinson of Vox described the film as "Burying self-referential allusions in the background and merrily poking viewers till they bruise, The Square at times feels more like longform performance art than a narrative film. It’s social satire by way of art-world comedy, and no woke participant is exempt from its barbs."^[15]

In 2020, he received the King's medal in gold for significant efforts in Swedish film.^[16]

Afterwards, he pursued the project Triangle of Sadness, a satirical film about the wealthy elite, winning his second Palme d'Or in 2022.^[17] On January 23, 2023, he won Best Director at the Guldbaggens gala for Triangle of Sadness. The film won five other nominations.^[18] In January of the same year, only a day after winning the Guldbaggengala, Triangle of Sadness received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay.^[19] He was the Jury president of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.^[20]

Personal life

Östlund has been in a relationship with fashion photographer Sina Görcz since 2014 and has a son called Elias. He was previously married to his director colleague Andrea Östlund. They divorced in 2008 and have twin daughters, Alva and Hilda, together. Östlund was 28 when he became a father for the first time and was working on The Guitar Mongoloid, his first feature film.^[21]

Filmography

Year	English title	Original title	Notes
1993	Addicted		Skiing film
1997	Free Radicals
1998	Free Radicals 2
2000	Låt dom andra sköta kärleken		Documentary
2002	Family Again	Familj igen	Documentary
2004	The Guitar Mongoloid	Gitarrmongot
2005	Autobiographical Scene Number 6882	Scen nr: 6882 ur mitt liv	Short
2008	Involuntary	De ofrivilliga
2009	Incident by a Bank	Händelse vid bank	Short
2011	Play
2014	Force Majeure	Turist
2017	The Square
2022	Triangle of Sadness
2026	The Entertainment System Is Down

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards

Year	Category	Nominated work	Result
2018	Best International Feature Film	The Square	Nominated
2023	Best Director	Triangle of Sadness	Nominated
2023	Best Original Screenplay	Triangle of Sadness	Nominated

BAFTA Awards

Year	Category	Nominated work	Result
2015	Best Film Not in the English Language	Force Majeure	Nominated
2023	Best Original Screenplay	Triangle of Sadness	Nominated

Cannes Film Festival

Year	Category	Nominated work	Result
2008	Un Certain Regard	Involuntary	Nominated
2014	Un Certain Regard	Force Majeure	Nominated
2017	Palme d'Or	The Square	Won
2022	Palme d'Or	Triangle of Sadness	Won

Golden Globe Awards

Year	Category	Nominated work	Result
2015	Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language	Force Majeure	Nominated
2018	Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language	The Square	Nominated
2023	Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy	Triangle of Sadness	Nominated